Aether
by Amestris
Summary: .:AU:.A war has begun. The only way to stop the blooding and bloodlust is to find the entity whom calls herself Aether. And their only clue lies in the young queen of Eris. Eva x Aikka HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Verse I: Remebrance & Ambivalence

"**Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." – George Santayana **

**_Chapter I: Remembrance & Ambivalence _**

**PLANET: ERIS, 2:12 P.M. – **

The planet of Eris is the queerest of planets. It is a flat planet made mostly of water with a small bluish globe that is attached to the bottom of Eris. Four waterfalls descends down a gravy bowl-tipped precipice. Atop the planet is the home of the Erisians. In the center is a single island, that is the capitol whom the Earthlings know as Atlantis. The capitol is thirty-six miles wide and lays ten feet above the circular canal that surrounds it, the capitol only assessable by a large bridge. About half a mile away is another small portion of Atlantis which is twenty miles in diameter at the same level. It is connected to the capitol by a similar bridge. Four rings surround the sub-city and capitol and are all forty miles wide. Each is connected to each other by a bridge.

The capitol and sub-city are the highest points on the planet, then the four other rings are slightly below sea-level where water flows through small canals at every fourth quarter of the ring, bridges go over the small tears in the rings. The planet is just like one large waterfall, abundant in magic and seafood. The planet is rich in plants of blues, purples, peacock green, and ice-blue/silver. The houses are small, only two stories high made of adobe, marble and alabaster. Intricate designs the walls of buildings. Colorful bazaars and agoras adorn each ring, including Atlantis. Most people here in Eris are mages, seers, and mystics.

The royal family has ruled for more than three thousand years when "Atlantis" sank. The currant royal family consisted of four people: King Donald II, Queen Moira, called Maya by intimate family, and the royal heirs. Prince Ricardo, called Rick, and Princess Evangelina, called Eva. They have ruled successfully for nearly thirty years, Don ruling since he was ten, in human years. Their laws were strict, which left the planet with little or no crimes. The heirs of the planet were bizarre, as they had odd habits. Especially Evangelina, as she often spends her time in the globe beneath the planet.

Princess Evangelina lies in a crystal clear boat, her eyes are closed. She has long locks of inky-black snake-thick hair that tumbles to her elbows. She has a pale, unmarred complexion and a slender build with delicate hands, though she has the smallest of clawed fingernails. Her eyes are perhaps a bit too large for her, but they complement her face as her eyes are peering, and brooding acid green. Her lips are strangely inky-black and have long lashes that curl prettily against her cheeks. A tattoo covered her neck and the hollow of her throat. The tattoo is an inch thick and the same inky black of her hair.

It beings at the hollow of her throat, where it looks like two hands are clasped together, the sides of the palms touching. The two pinkies were intertwined and the ring finger on the right hand behind the left handed one and in front of the middle, the two middle fingers gently touching each other's tips. In the hollow of the hands was an orb that had squared spikes all around it. From the outer sides of the hands gently began half-circular whorls and curlicues with gently shapes of lilies, azaleas and five-pointed violets. It would be a beautiful tattoo, if it did not have such a painful, burdensome meaning.

The girl sighs contently and smiles. She is happy here, just lying in the boat gently rocking. But her parents wouldn't be too happy, as she skips out on her piano lessons. It wasn't like she hates the piano lessons, she hates the teacher. Evangelina sighed and shifts into a more comfortable position in the glass boat. She closes her eyes and peacefully yawns. Below the glass vessel, a myriad of colorful fish play tag and gently butt the boat with their heads. When she returns, she'll probably be grounded from the exclusive lake.

Someone jerks the boat roughly. Evangelina yelps and grabs the boat for reassurance. She punches a booted foot with her fist angrily. She shrieks at the boy and leaps onto him. She wraps her legs around the boy's waist and her arms around his neck. The boy walks away with the girl attached to his back nonchalant; as if the girl's erratic behavior was normal. She punches and kicks at her brother gently, she would never want to hurt her brother, just make him beg for mercy.

"You idiot! You know I can't swim!" She shrieks as the boy pries her off his back and tossing her over his shoulder. "Rick! Put me down, you bonehead!" The six-year-old continues with fervor. Rick, the twelve-old-boy, laughs and sets the girl down. She seethes at Rick as her brother laughs non-stop. He places an arm around her shoulders and gently kisses her cheek; really his sister was adorable.

"Don't worry, Eva, I would dive down into the water to save you from death." Rick proclaims dramatically, bowing with flourish and kissing his sisters fisted hands. Eva snarls and snatches her hand away, glaring at her brother. Rick links his arms through hers and they promenade up marble and glass stairs, up to the basement of the castle. Evangelina looks at her brother, a look of incredulity on her fair face.

"Rick, coming from you that's a threat, not a promise!" Eva retorts, snatching her arm from her brother. "And why did you disturb me, anyways? I thought you had your lessons." She continues, now curious. Rick laughs nervously and rubs the back of his inky-black tresses. Eva narrows her eyes in mirth and covers her hand with her mouth to bite back giggles. Rick glares at his sister as she laughs hard, loud and long.

"That's now very lady-like, _Evangelina_." He sulks. Eva shrugs her shoulders, as if saying: _do you think I care?_ Rick sighs and links once again links the sibling's arms. "Mum and Da want to see us for some unknown reason. I think it deals with the cream pie fiasco." Eva laughs and claps her hands together in glee and mirth. Their great-aunt Ina won't be back any time soon. Another plan perfectly executed. But Eva shakes her head in all seriousness. Rick looks at his sister. Is this 'family' meeting about something else?

"No. I think Mum and Da wants to talk about…" Eva shudders, "…marriage. They think we should be betrothed by now. Da and Mum were around my age." Eva digresses, tapping her chin in thought. Rick blanches and pales. He doesn't want to get married, he just wants to become a warrior and protect his sister. Eva, on the other hand, wants to become the next queen and live peacefully with the burden of being the Goddess of the Seal.

The Goddess of the Seal was the sole being whom protected all five Seals, the fifth being her own person, and kept the planet safe from the Crogs ongoing and oncoming attacks. Each Seal was hidden in some secret place, only the Goddess knows where the location is. It was the planet's weight on Evangelina's shoulders that made her so tired and weary, as it was up to her alone to protect the Seals, herself and Eris from threats.

"Well, we don't want to get married, I know that for sure." Rick admits as they enter the basement and being to go up one more floor. "I mean, we want our own goals. Can't Mum and Da procreate another little princeling or princessling? It can't be that hard. I've learned about it from the medic tutor and everything. And you, of course, know about it, you're the human bookworm. You spend too much time in there! You haven't even been around kids your own age!" Eva sharply jabs Rick's side. Rick winces.

"Enough! You know I hate being around other people!" Eva chides, playfully slapping her brother. Rick grins at his sister and pats her on the back. He knows that she would go live in the center of a volcano surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves and jaguars than marry a royal or a prince from another planet. Rick, too, would probably do the same thing. The siblings arrive outside their parent's courtroom. They both glance at each other, Eva pushes Rick forward. They take turns doing this, they would take turns knocking on the door, then the other would bolt for their rooms. Rick raises a fist and pounds the door. Eva turns tail and runs off towards the palace water garden.

"Traitor!" He yells-whispers at her retreating back. Eva turns and makes a face and begins to run away again. Rick scowls as the door opens, but is all grins and smiles when he walks towards his parents. Beside the throne were three humanoid figures. They were the royals of Naurasia, King Mamoru, Queen Etsu and Prince Aikka. Ah, so a royal meetings of two royal families from two very different planets in hopes of making a marriageable alliance, _so _clichéd. Apparently, Moira and Don didn't think so.

"Rick, where is Evangelina?" Moira probes softly, almost knowingly. Rick grins at his parents widely and laughs. Don is not amused at all; he scowls at his son and curses under his breath. Moira places a hand on Don's silk sleeve. Rick sighs and begins to explain in an even tone, a mature tone, amazing for someone his age and maturity level.

"She bolted. It was her turn this time. Guess she was _real _lucky this time. I thought you _knew _she'd rather drown herself than get married. She certainly showed you last time with the Heraian royals." Rick rambles, ignoring the scandalized looks on the Naurasians' face, the mirth from his mother and the rage and embarrassment of his father. The prince, however, was torn between disbelief, awe and amazement. The parents were not amused at all. They rounded on Moira and Don.

"Why force your daughter into a marriage, if she does not _want_ to?" Etsu demands in a chiding manner, her russet-gold hair falling over her shoulder. Moira looks at the queen, almost distastefully. Don has his head in his hands, ashamed. Serves him right, Rick notes. He grins smugly as Don stutters out a response: _she is only six! she doesn't understand the concept of marriage! _Rick raises a skeptical brow at his parents, Aikka, too, is skeptical at Don's explanation. The seven-year-old Aikka and twelve-year-old Rick share knowing, mocking grins.

"Father, I deviate. _Evangelina_," He says mockingly, "knows what she wants and doesn't want. She's not stupid. She is a genius. She's got 'nother duty, too. You can't keep burdening her. You're going to break her and shatter her. Give her a break for once. She's young and she can only take too much 'fore she falls long _and _hard." Rick is quite serious when he is done. But he is right; Eva is still young and susceptible to break if Don keeps on loading things on to his daughter's back.

"Rick, you are young. How do you know what your sister needs and doesn't need? We are her parents, _we _know what she needs. She can handle a betrothal. She is a strong, powerful girl. She can handle this, Rick. I know that for sure." Don argues. He beckons a serf from the shadows. "Bring Evangelina here. Look in the garden; she will most likely be there." The serf nods and rushes off to the garden. Rick openly scowls at his father and glares at him insolently. Don is surprised by his son's open defiance.

"This isn't right!" Rick yells at his father. "She's a little girl! She doesn't deserve to be forced into something she doesn't want! I know more about her than you do, anyways. I know her favorite foods, I know what books she likes to read! Do you? Do_ you _know her favorite color? It's fuchsia! Do you know her favorite animal? It's Kelpies!" Rick is angry with his father. Eva doesn't deserve another bag on her back. She is too mature and quiet for her age, she is to brooding and deep for her age. The doors open and the serf drags Eva forward by her bony wrist. Eva is rebelling by jerking back with a strength not even Rick knew the girl had.

"Let go of me! Rick! Make him stop!" She shrieks loudly. "He's hurting me! Let go of me, you bastard!" She stomps on the serf's foot and he lets go of the impish princess. She runs to Rick and his open arms. Rick closes his arms around her in a consoling manner as Eva rests her head on her brother's conjunction between his neck and shoulder. They ignore the hurt looks of their parents, and the sympathetic looks of the Naurasians. There is only Rick and Eva in their small world, only brother and sister, and strength and hope.

"We're leaving." Rick states, gripping Eva's hand in his. Eva's head is high, glaring at just her father, only her father. "We don't need this. You decide what you want. And we will decide what _we _want." The siblings leave, Eva's hand in Rick's. Aikka is awed by the girl and boy's bravado, the girl and boy's open defiance and the girl's crude and boorish choice of words. He defiantly likes these children; they are strong, powerful and openly insolent, they have the potential to be great leaders. He knew those two royals were closer than brothers and sisters, closer than humanly known. They were ready to die for each other, to protect each other, to kill for each other, _anything _to protect each other.

"Mother, father, may I be excused?" Aikka asks quietly, they look down at their son and nod. He smiles at them and scampers after the two children. He looks around the hallway and frowns. Where are the children? Then he remembers: _look in the garden; she will most likely be there_. Aikka runs to one of the windows and peers down at the ground below him.

The garden is alive with colorful flowers in hues of blues, greens, pastel purples, whites and exotic colors. Small circular stone platforms ringed the watery garden in the colors of light browns, sandy browns and bone-white, like that of coral. Marble statues and benches dotted all the circle platforms. The girl and boy were on the largest platform, surround by pretty white and sea-green willows. Aikka runs down the hall and down the stairs. He follows the same path as he entered. He and his parents had bypassed the garden entering the small, yet structurally sound, castle.

When Aikka reaches the young royals, the girl is jumping up and down, twirling a rope above her head and below her feet. What was that rope called? A skip-rope? No, Aikka realizes, it is a _jump_-rope. The girl begins to do complex routines as her brother smiles and claps softly. Eva grins at her brother and ties the rope above her dusty brown pleated skirt and fawn-brown blouse. She scuffs her leather boots on the conglomerate stone as she ties the rope in a large bow. The coconut handles bang on her knees as she whips around, seeing Aikka in her peripheral vision.

"Hello," she greets carefully, softly walking to him, "my name is Evangelina, but I guess you can call me Eva. I'm the princess here. That's my brother, Rick." She holds out her hand and shakes his hand with a strength he didn't know a girl could muster. She meshes his fingers with hers and drags the prince to her sister. Rick stands up and shakes Aikka's hand. Eva offers Aikka her un-tied rope from her waist. Aikka looks at the jump-rope dubiously and Eva laughs.

"Rick, will you play Dutch with me and Aikka?" She grins at Aikka as Rick takes one handle and leaving Eva the one in her clenched hand. "Playin' Dutch is easy. What ya gotta do is swing the rope in a loop." Her and Rick gently swings the rope until it circled up above them. "And ya got to jump every time the rope comes down under your feet. Hold this and I'll show you. Keep in sync with Rick." It takes Aikka a minute to get into rhythm with Rick. Eva dives in and jumps in easy tempo with the rawhide rope.

"And when you add another rope, that's called Double Dutch, it's harder than Dutch, but much more fun. Hold on a second and I'll get my second rope." Rick halts the rope and Eva runs to the base of a willow tree and triumphantly holds up a similar rope, though it is colored sea-green. She trots back over to Aikka and gently takes the handle from him and tosses one green handle to Rick. Now each child has a handle in each hand. Eva gently swings one and the other, whom is joined by Rick. The two ropes are blurs now. Eva stops and hands the two handles to Aikka. The two boys swing the ropes in tempo with each other.

"See, now you have to work twice as hard." Eva explains as she jumps in with grace. Her feet went up and down with pretty rhythm, always in tempo with the ropes and never marring or mistaking. She holds up her hand and Rick stops. Eva gathers the sea-green jump-rope and tosses it over her shoulder where it lands in the boughs of a stand-by willow tree. Eva walks up to Aikka and hands him the rope.

"You're turn." She sings. Aikka takes the rope in his hands. Eva smiles at Aikka as he looks at her with an air of wariness. Rick walks up to Aikka and gently takes the jump-rope, jumps a few times and raises his brows delicately as if saying: _see, it's not hard_. Aikka takes the jump-rope and gently skips. Eva gathers her green jump-rope and joins Aikka, smiling at him childishly. Aikka finds himself grinning back at the young princess.

"_Evangelina! Ricardo!" _A serf runs up to the royals, a harassed look on his face. Eva hides the sea-green jump-rope behind her back and blushes. A jump-rope is _un-lady like_, as her teachers put it so bluntly. The serf pretends not to notice the jump-rope and pierces Rick with a sever gaze. "Your parents want to see you, the _both_ of you. Oh, and dinner's ready." The serf stalks off. Eva sighs and gathers her jump-ropes in her arms, hiding them beneath the moss of the willow tree. Rick claps Aikka on the back as Eva shakes his hand.

"Bye, Aikka. Guess we'll probably never see you again, because of what me and Rick did today." Eva says awkwardly as Rick tugs her away, towards a secret entrance of the castle. "You can find your way back, right?" Aikka nods as Rick and Eva run through the watery garden, pants and skirts soaking wet. Aikka sighs and tip-toes from platform to platform, his mother would be upset if he got his sandals wet. As Aikka was leaving the garden, Rick and Eva were changing into more royal-like clothing, Rick in a brightly colored and tailored shirt, pants and vest, Eva in a fawn-colored dress that touches the floor.

"We are in tons of trouble, aren't we Rick?" Eva murmurs as they exit their respective rooms to traverse to the dining hall. The siblings link arms as they arrive outside the dining hall. They grimace at each other and Rick opens the door. Moira and Don are sitting on pretty chairs with plush cushions. They pierce the children with harsh and sever gazes.

"We are disappointed in you, children," Don begins, "this afternoon's display was extremely embarrassing and unnecessary for the royals of Naurasia to see. Evangelina, you are betrothed to the royal heir of Naurasia. Watch your language!" Rick laughs as his sister met her father's gaze insolently and continue to mutters curses and profanities louder. Don curses under his breath and waves for his children to sit down. They do as they are told.

"Now, Rick, we found someone for you as well. Her name is Hanch, and she is from nearby planet in alliance with us." Don continues as he waves serfs to bring in food. Rick scowled down at his empty plate as Eva's hands fluttered around her glass of coconut milk. But Rick knew Eva was angry, her hands were shaky and her lips were tightly pursed, her eyes were a shade darker than the normal acid green. Eva glares at the serf who brought her the plate of food that is set before her. Rick gently kicks his sister's leg.

"Sorry, but I _hate_ this!" She whispers to Rick lowly, tracing whorls in her mashed potatoes. "Why do we have to get married? Why not die an old age and let some count rule Eris?" She hisses lowly, stabbing the potatoes with the back of her spoon. Rick gently flicks a piece of Eva's mashed potatoes off his sleeve and smiles at her and pats her hand consolingly.

"Loop holes, sweetheart, loop holes!" He sang in a low tone, winking at Eva. "No matter what there are _always _back doors, a way out, loop holes. Only one of us needs to get married. I'll probably be the one forced into a marriage, since I'm expected to rule." Rick takes a bite of turnips and carrots. Eva sighs sadly and shifts a pile of turnips to overpower the volcano of mashes potatoes. Eva stands up, food untouched and bows to Moira and Don.

"I am not hungry. May I be excused to my rooms?" Eva solicits. Moira nods and smiles at Eva. Eva smiles back and scampers out of the room. Eva's room is very unusual for a six-year-old. On her walls are glued maps of Eris and neighboring planets. Her walls are also decorated with bookcases filled with books on every subject. Eva had changed into her nightclothes and was curled in a fetal position, hugging a doll to her chest. Her brother was curled up beside her as he and Eva stayed up late, talking about the possible loop holes.

**PLANET: ERIS, 8:12 A.M.– **

The sun crawls over the morning zenith and the two young royals wake. Eva was the first awake. She crawls out of bed and trots to her wardrobe and pulls out a white dress. She tosses her nightclothes off and pulls the dress over her head. She yanks her hair from the collar of the dress and pulls a brush through her dreadlock like hair. She walks back over to Rick and prods his arm. Rick grumbles and turns over to the other side. Eva sighs and balls her right fist and jams it into Rick's backside.

"What the _hell _was that for?" Rick demands, rubbing his backside, glaring at his sister. Eva looks at him coolly. She grabs Rick's robes in her hands and tosses them at Rick. Rick catches them and falls back on the bed, cracking his wrist, neck and arms. Eva rolls her eyes at her brother and sits on the edge of the bed and peers at her brother.

"You wouldn't have gotten up any other way." Eva explains serenely as Rick stands up, tossing the robes over his shoulders. He spares his sister a glance and leaves her room. Eva sticks her tongue out at her brother's retreating back and she, too, leaves her room. Eva skips down to the dining hall and opens the door energetically. Her parents are smiling at each other and eating. Eva scampers over to Moira and sits down beside her. Moira smiles at Eva.

"Hungry?" Moira asks playfully. Eva nods as Moira pushes a plate of food and a glass of coconut milk to her daughter. Eva smiles at her mother and eats. Rick comes in, still tying the string of his boots. Eva grins at her brother and pats the seat next to her. Rick makes a face at his sister as he sits down and accepts the plate his mother gives him. As the two young royals eat, Don looks at each one, pinning them with a severe, sharp gaze.

"Evangelina, Rick, we have decided only one of you has to go through with your betrothal. Evangelina, you do not have to marry. Rick you hold the duty to marry Hanch when you are sixteen years of age. She is coming over with in a fortnight." Don explains as Rick and Eva clap hands under the table. Everything was going according to the younglings plan. The two grin happily at Moira and Don, the parents unaware of the children's devious plan. Don clears his throat.

"Evangelina," Don continues, "you, however, are condemned to the castle from now on. It is too dangerous for you to go outside; the Crogs have been seen hovering near the atmosphere. Evangelina, it is important for you to be protected." Eva scowls down at her plate of food and nods, though hesitantly and sighs. Now what would she do? Spend all of her time in the library or the magic-riddled sphere below the planet. Eva stands up and pushes the plate away. Suddenly she isn't hungry anymore.

"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to the library." Eva mumbles. Eva walks out of the dining hall. Rick sighs and rubs his face with his hands. His poor sister, she won't be able to handle the pressure of being locked up in the castle. Rick picks at his potato hash and stabs it morosely. He peers up at his mother and father, almost distastefully and sniffs delicately.

"You do know that you are mentally hurting her, right? She won't be able to stand being in these darkened halls and be denied the sunlight." Rick chides softly, mashing his pancake to a frappe piece of cooked batter. Don grumbles something under his breath as Moira rubs her temples wearily, her honey colored hair falling into her glass of wine.

"Tell you what, Rick," Moira begins, "when you finish your warrior hood, you can protect and be Eva's personal guard. Do you like that? Good, for now, Eva is allowed to go to the rock garden and the tree grotto." Moira smiles brilliantly at both Don and Rick. Don mutters something along the lines of: _she'll never learn her own boundaries if you allow her to go out. _Rick thanks his mother in a low, even tone and stands up.

"I'm going to train, the sooner I'm a warrior, the sooner Eva is free." Rick announces as he pushes the plate away. Moira nods and waves her hand in dismissal. The young royal leaves the room. He heads down the hallway that leads to the library. Eva is sitting on an oak chair, a velvet cushion under her folded legs. She was reading a thin book on different animals, rapt attention on her pale, pretty face.

"Hello, Rick." Eva greets, placing the book in her lap. Rick leans against his sister's chair and peers down at her owlishly. "What's wrong? You _never _come into the library unless something really good or really bad happens" Eva's logic made Rick wince. Rick grabs the book from her lap and opens the pages before speaking haltingly.

"Mum said that you were allowed to go to the rock garden and tree grotto. And once I become a full-fledged warrior you can have your freedom back." Rick explains, reading a passage on Kelpies and Undines. Eva sighs and snatches the book back, tossing it against a bookcase. She is angry, Rick notes, as Eva stands up and yanks a thick book on curses to her lap.

"They have no right taking away my freedom! I should be allowed to go outside whether or not you're a warrior! This is so stupid!" She snarls, pacing up and down now, like a caged puma. Rick slides into her seat and watches her pace. "Why do I have to be the Goddess? If it was up to me, I'd be a seer in the fourth district of the city!" She continues with vehemence. Rick nods sympathetically before beckoning his sister over with his pointer finger. Eva stomps over to him, a scowl marring her pretty, exotic features.

"Look, it will take a while fore me to become a warrior. But I have an idea, you want to be queen, am I right? Let's say I brought you some of the Da's paper work that he overlooks, will that keep you sedate?" Eva nods eagerly at Rick notion. Don always overlooks the people's complaints and loss of crops. It was a perfect opportunity for her to practice. Rick holds out his hand, which Eva shakes, happily.

"I _love _how your foul little mind works!" Eva crows. Rick scowls at Eva affectionate insult. She claps her hands together and hugs her brother. Rick sighs and stands up from Eva's seat, prying his sister off his torso. He pats her head like a human would a dog and kisses Eva's forehead. Eva makes a funny face and gently punches Rick in the arm.

"My lessons are up. I'll bring the papers to your room when I'm finished. Why don't you acquaint yourself with the castle?" Rick suggests. Eva nods slowly and gathers the book on curses. Rick leaves the library and looks at his sister one last time, worried. He constantly worries about his sister, mostly because she has no soul, nothing to keep her safe, nothing to keep her sane. He needs to find something to fill her empty soul.

**PLANET: HERA, 7:32 P.M.**

Toros doesn't like Heraian people; mostly because the citizens are very beautiful with pale, creamy skin. They are the prettiest race of the universe. Girls have pretty wheat-blonde hair and sky-blue eyes with a slight build and a small, frail, bird-like body. They have soft, whispery voices and are good in singing, dancing and other forms of art. They are soft, serene, demure and caring. The boys have chestnut brown hair and blue-grey eyes with a muscular build, and contrasts to the female Heraians. The males voices are stronger, like the roars of lions and excel in weaponry, smithy and martial arts.

"You are sure you do not want to turn back, Toros? I do not want a war to start because of this." The royal queen asks looking at the bag filled with gold in her silk laden lap. The black skinned creature nods in earnest as the queen hides the bag in the fold of her dress. She stands up and walks past Toros, who's yellow eyes narrows dangerously.

"We are meeting the royal family of Eris in a week. Don't worry you're pretty little head. We will go through our deal." the queen informs him in a rather cold tone. Toros is taken aback by the queen's stern tone. Toros smiles to himself, he is close to reaching his goal. He leaves the castle with a flash of a blood-red cloak. He enters his trident ship and leaves for his own planet.

**PLANET: ERIS, 4:21 A.M.**

Eva wakes up and found herself lying on the very chair she was reading in, the book of curses held in her lap. She pushes the book off her abdomen and stands up. She rubs her eyes and yawns widely. She cracks her back and smiles, as if she can hear her teacher's chiding tones. She tucks the book under her arm and leaves the library. Eva trots to her room where an inch or two of papers are stacked on her desk. Her black lips upturn into a pleased smile. She throws her book to her bed and runs to the table.

She picks the first paper and reads over it, smiling. She looks around her desk and cackles like a hag when she sees a small box of wax, a stamp with the royal seal and things to counterfeit. She dunks her quill in an inkwell and scribbles words onto a piece of parchment. Her father was going to be _so _angry. But Eva always does love to briar and thorn her father like that, just to see the vein in his temple throb. Eva always did love to play cruel games with her father, and this, perhaps, was the cruelest of all. But the king deserved it. Or at least that is what Rick and Eva thought.

"So…why weren't you at dinner?" Rick asks casually from the alcove of Eva's door. Eva shrugs her shoulder carelessly and waves to the opened book on her bed. Rick looks at the stack and laughs. "You owe me, you know. Coz if _I _get caught, you're coming down with me." Eva raises a brow as if saying: _is that right, is it? _Rick doesn't like the look in his sister's eyes. It's that impish look that means destruction and mayhem was going to follow the youngling's steps. Eva places the black and silver quill back in the inkwell and stands up.

"I was in the library and I fell asleep. And _why _do I owe you? As far as I know, you volunteered for this. You really have no right telling me I owe you something. If I asked you, then I would owe you something. Like you said: loop holes!" She sings, prancing around her brother. Rick scowls at his younger sister and presses down on her head. Eva giggles and pries her brother's hand off of the top of her head. She skips back to her desk and continues to write a check out to a distance count on the second ring.

"Did you learn anything? Any curses or anything like that?" Rick asks, picking at dirt and small pebbles from under his fingernails with the edge of a piece of parchment. Eva nods her head distractedly and blows on the coarse paper, drying the black ink and sea-blue wax. She folds the paper and ties it close with a velvet sea-green ribbon.

"Yes, a few curses. I can curse someone on three the three levels: mentally, physically, and spiritually. I can do the whole voodoo thing and minor possession. A rather large accomplishment for one my age, no?" Eva muses, amused and disheartened. Rick looks over his sister's shoulder at the next complaint or plea. She looks at it and bunches it up in a ball. The next ten go the same way, all scrunched up.

"They were complaints from count and dukes that we should give them room and board." Eva explains in a monotone voice as she crumples another two in her fists. "Honestly, can't the lesser royals be happy for once where they live? We've given them two rings all to themselves! If anything, the economical farmers need more land." Eva harangues, ripping three into small shreds. With a sigh and a moan Eva places four papers aside, and grabs four sheaves of parchment. Eva dunks her quill in the inkwell and writes.

"Well, maybe Da can take care of it." Rick advocates helpfully. Eva shakes her head in disgust and waves to the crumpled balls of paper below her bare feet. "All of those are from counts and dukes? Jeez, they don't seem to give up, do they?" Eva shakes her head and rips four more. The stack is only a few centimeters thick now. Eva looks at her brother a tired, weary, almost helpless look on her face.

"I think I have a new motto: duck or die! What do you think? Think the counts will like it?" It is to poke and prod at Rick, just to see his reaction. Rick sighs and shrugs his shoulder, as if saying: _whatever, I'm sick of this mind game_. Eva sticks her tongue out at her brother and continues to work; now ignoring Rick and his questions.

"Hanch will be here in a week and a half. What will you do?" Eva asks suddenly. Rick is jerked from his quiet stupor. He shrugs his shoulders, he honestly does not know what he will do when he sees his betrothed. But Rick has that feeling Eva won't like Hanch, mostly because Rick was a brother and a father to Eva, and now a single female was taking him away from her. Rick sighs and gently kisses the back of his sister's head. Eva scowls and jerks away from her brother, marring an almost finished parchment.

"If I don't like her, I won't marry her. And if I like her I'll more than likely wed her." Rick replies coolly, taking small pleasure in the flash of hurt that flies across Eva's pale, mature face. Eva motions for him to get out of her room with the feathery tip of her quill. Rick shrugs indifferently and leaves. Rick hears Eva shriek and throw something against the wall, her inkwell mostly likely. Rick sighs and covers his face with his right hand. He hates it when this happens, he hates making his sister angry. He hates to see her clawed hands scratch at her hair and at the walls to relieve pain and anger.

**PLANET: ERIS, 10:43 A.M.**

Hanch comes a week and a half earlier than expected. She was a pretty thing, Rick supposes, with glossy wheat-blonde hair and bright cornflower blue eyes. But Rick knows Eva truly hates Hanch from the bottom of her heart. Rick sees the way Eva's clawed hands clench and ball up and how his little sister glares and disappears for hours at a time when Hanch is around.

"So, Rick, shall we go to the tree grotto?" Hanch suggest, smiling at Rick. Rick nods distractedly and leads Hanch to the pretty circle of willows, crab apple trees in bloom and cherry blossom trees. Eva was sitting the boughs of a willow tree. Her acid green eyes watch as Hanch and Rick talk about trivial things, the weather, colors and animals. Hanch laughs at something witty Rick says as Eva crawls down the trunk of the tree. She is hurt that her brother has seemed to forgotten her. She steps on a twig and winces as Hanch and Rick look at her.

When Hanch first sees Evangelina, she is reminded of a porcelain doll. Her skin is pale, unmarred, like cream or sepia and as smooth as calm water or the petals of roses. Her hair is a beautiful, silky inky-black that contrasts prettily with her skin, though it would be prettier if Evangelina took them out of those horrible dreadlock-like rolls. Evangelina's eyes are the strange acid green, a pretty color and brooding, and almost on the brink of a glassy look. Even her clawed hands have a doll-like quality to them.

"Your sister hates me, Rick. Why is that?" Hanch solicits sadly. Rick looks at Hanch and shrugs his shoulders. "I have a friend who can play with Evangelina whilst we talk. His name is Abhor. I think Evangelina will like him. May I bring him tomorrow?" Rick nods his head in earnest. He wants Eva to have someone else to play with. Hanch smiles warmly at Rick and they promenade to the castle.

Eva is reading the book on curses, writing her own observations and ideas on the margins. She ignores the boy beside her, the sounds of the scratching of the quill the only noise in the library. The boy is known as Abhor and is of ten years. Abhor had black hair, as dark and silky as Eva's and powered blue eyes. He, too, was peering in a book, writing various things down on a piece of paper, ignoring Eva. Abhor looks up suddenly and taps Eva on the shoulder.

"How's about _this _curse, it prevents someone from being able to use forks?" Abhor wiggles his eyebrows provocatively. Eva arched a brow and slaps his cheek with the feathery quill. "Okay, maybe not…so, then, what did you find, oh-so-fine-mistress-of-curses?" Eva glares at him sharply and shoves her book in Abhor's arms. Abhor reads the different curses and nods his head. He runs his fingers over the dried ink; the curses Eva chose to learn were mostly based on metal attacks and a few physical. Abhor grins at Eva.

"Good choices. Hey, we've been caged in this library for nearly four hours. How about we play a rousing game of hide-and-seek with a dash of tag?" Abhor flashes Eva a cheesy grin. Eva rolls her eyes, but nods. Abhor closes the book and takes Eva's hand. They leave the library and decides who is _it_, Abhor volunteers. The rules are simple: no-one has the rights to go down to the water sphere _or _the attic. No-one can flee from the castle. Only the first three floors are to be used.

"One, two, three, four, five…" Abhor begins to count. Eva runs off in the opposite direction. Abhor counts to one hundred. Once he reaches the triple digit number Abhor looks around and runs down a random hallway. Such were the way of childish games, to squander hours away. He runs and searches every place on the first floor. She is not on the first floor, and nor could she move from her original hiding spot. Abhor runs a hand through his thick locks and runs up to the second level.

"Abhor!" Rick's voice. Abhor turns around. "Hanch is eager to get home. Go find her, I'll find Eva." Abhor looks at Rick for a moment, suspicious, then turns on his heel and leaves. Rick sighs and looks around. Eva would be on this floor, the second was always her favorite. He walks to a door with a picture of a dragon on it and knocks three times. Eva opens the doors a crack and peers outside. Eva slams the door shut. Rick sighs and yanks the door open. She peers at him, almost hatefully.

"She's using you." Eva spits out maliciously and runs out. Rick grabs Eva by her forearm tightly. "Let me go, Rick. Please, unhand me. Mum and Da are calling us to the throne room. Can't you hear them?" Eva breaks her brother's grip and flaunts out of the room, with the air of the queen she would one day be. Rick follows his sister as she leads the way to the throne room. He grabs the hem of her skirt. Eva looks back at him, stuck between shocked and curious.

"I'm sorry…for everything. I know I've been ignoring you for the past week. Do you think you can forgive a fool?" Eva smiles at her brother and releases his hold on her skirt. Rick links his arm through Eva's with bravado. "So, did Mum and Da really want to see us?" Eva had the decency to blush. She grins sheepishly and rubs the back of her head.

"An excuse to get away from you, mostly. But the Heraian envoy is here and I wanna see him. He's supposed to be a chimera. I've always wanted to see one. Haven't you always wanted to see a chimera? They are _so _interesting!" Eva is now rambling, waving her arms in glee. Rick laughs and shakes his head. He is happy that his sister is back, talking about her interests. They arrive outside the throne room. The two royals grin at each other and Rick opens the door. They are ready to see the strange chimera.

"I smell death." Eva gasps, covering her mouth and nose. Rick brings Eva to his chest. Eva shoves Rick away from her. The strength behind the push is strong enough to send Rick to the ground, hitting his head on the cold flagstone. It was as if night was his lover, for darkness descends on him, blanketing him in its obsidian wings. He falls into the dark silk of blackness. And he is welcome to the world of unconsciousness. The last thing Rick hears is a blood-curdling cry and a screech of pain.

Rick awakens, the back of his head sticky with blood. He winces and stands up in a drunken manner. Don is standing over his wife, unmoving. Eva is hiding in the shadows, crying softly. Don is making no move to go and comfort his only daughter. Rick walks over to his sister and hugs her. But Eva is not looking at anything now, only peering over her brother's shoulder, at her mother. Cold reality slaps Rick in the face as one single fact mocks him.

Their dearest, darling mother was dead.

**END CHAPTER I : END CHAPTER I : END CHAPTER I : END CHAPTER I : END CHAPTER I : END CHAPTER 1 :**

_Chapter I is complete. I was working on this for two weeks I think before I was overall pleased. And writing it in fist tense isn't easy for me. But what do you think? Tell me if there is any grammatical errors, thing spelled wrong or things that don't make sense. I worked really hard on this and went through three headaches, one migraines and a whole lot of Advil and Tylenol. So the least you can do is review. Criticism is welcomed, but **not **flamers/complainers. Don't like, don't bitch about it. I don't want to go through another headache because you don't like it. Criticism **good **& Flamers **bad**. _

_**Special Thanks to From Hide-and-Seek:**_

**_Lumiere: Extremely glad you like it. I'm not a big Jordan x Molly fan, but it was around midnight when I wrote it and I was high on Vault. So what do you do when you're bored – write whatever comes to mind. Oo_**

_**Fushica: I glad you didn't smite me, and I'm glad you think it's awesome. It was extremely hard to write, as I had to re-do it a few times before I was pleased it. **_

_**Didgi Girl: Yeah, science is pretty good these days. But it's a pity I hate the class. I'm glad you think H-a-S is good as well. We all get angry at RPGs, I know I do – a lot.**_

_**Tenshi no Yami no Ryu: Thanks for the review. Don't worry, I don't panic…much, my insanity forbids it. **_

_**Raven's Soul Sister: I don't see why not. We all need sweeter things in life.**_

_**Purplehairedpunk: Thanks. I really did what to add a darker theme to H-a-S, so thus the dream and the porcelain doll and the carousel. I actually go the idea when I was looking up music from the Drakengard soundtrack and the idea hit me, then I had to muse on it for an hour or two before I wrote it. **_

_**From Blue-Blooded:**_

_**Tisuki element: Thanks for thinking B-B was great. And I did make more…as you can see.**_

_**Authoress' Note: Thanks to anyone who added me to their alert list or favorite author/**_

**Lost Jerusalem**


	2. Verse II: Limerence & Compersion

"**Such beauty they hold these tears of sorrow. But are you worthy to shed such tears? The human race, fearful in its weakness, built this world in a futile attempt to elude the abyss they call mortality. Culture…civilization…all delusions created by a powerless race, and of little use. But amidst all this, you continue to exist as an unfettered soul, free from the shackles of flesh and blood…a completely pure consciousness…an eternal spiral, undefiled by impurities… a fusion of fire, breath, and spirit…what can we call you…but angels? New, unadulterated psyches…but what you lack is reality." –Albedo, _Xenosaga _**

**_Chapter II: Limerence & Compersion _**

**PLANET: ROSA, TIME UNKNOWN**

His mother was Rosa, thus the name of his star-planet. Spirit is a queer thing, as he is half-shadow and half-human. His mother was shadow and his unknown father was human. Spirit has been mocked and laughed at all his life, and thus Spirit became a quiet, silent thing, fuming always on vengeance for those who mock him. He is always seeking salvation and believes his liberator is the entity called Aether. He believes that Aether lies within a single person, whom has no soul, who is an _angel_, as he calls it.

"She who is free of flesh and blood and is pure, unfettered by the evil that controls her…hold my salvation." Spirit muses, looking from his star-planet down on the planet of Naurasia. "She is near…close. I can feel her…" Spirit absentmindedly creates a small ball of darkness in his spidery hands. He throws the ball at a nearby wall and it takes the form of a young woman. She has black hair and lips, acid green eyes and pale skin. Spirit walks up to the image and walks around the girl. She is a calm, composed girl, yet underneath her exterior is a violent, sadistic woman. She is a caged woman, a force to be reckoned with.

Spirit destroys the imagery and sits on the fiery blue ground and thinks. His face is brooding and he muses. This girl is very much alive, very strong, and extremely angry to the tenth degree. He does not know why the girl is angry, as his small planet is enclosed by thousands of other stars and Naurasia often prevents the citizens who live on the star colonies from leaving Naurasia's atmosphere. Spirit stands up and begins to morph into a small red-breasted robin. The bird who is Spirit takes flight and soars out a nearby window.

Spirit flies around his planet and looks for a possible exit. There is none, for now. Spirit, heartily disappointed, flies back to his planet and disembarks on a ledge of a window. He turns back into his normal form and walks to a small alcove just down the way from the window. Inside the alcove are loads and loads of books, written in Spirit's home language. He grabs a lone book and opens it; it would be a long way to salvation, so Spirit might as well make it worth while.

**PLANET: ERIS, 8:33 A.M.**

It has been an entire month since Moira died. It has been a month since they seen Eva smile, laugh and play and a month since Rick was happy. Eva has gone through many changes. She is no longer happy, she never smiles and her entirety of her body is wasting away. She is too thin for a child of her age and stance, she is too quiet for her age and her eyes are dead. She is a mechanical doll, doing as her father tells her, as her father commands. But that is only because of the small lettering on her upper arm. _The bird of Hermes is my name: Eating my wings to make me tame._ The strongest subduing spell known to mankind is used on a small girl.

"Eva let me do your hair. I've got pretty beads, wooden ones, glass one, and ceramic ones. Will you let me do your hair?" Rick pleads at his immobile sister, whom is sitting on the stone floor, knees up to her chin and eyes downcast. She grabs her brother's supple hand in her own frail one and lifts herself up on the ground. She snuggles her brother's arm with her head and lets her brother lead her down to his room. He sits Eva in a chair and gently begins to comb Eva's pretty, long locks.

"See, look how pretty your locks are. Imagine blue and silver beads in your hair. You will look so pretty. Do you want to come with me to my training session? It will be fun. Do you want to go?" Eva nods as Rick pushes a box of beads at her. "Go on choose some pretty beads." Eva opens the box and shifts through the beads. She picks out a few types of beads. One type is a two-inch long bead that is the same shade as her acid green eyes. Another is a flat topped and bottom circular bead that is a pretty shade of sky blue.

"I want to be strong. Make me strong, Rick." Eva murmurs as Rick rolls a small portion of her pretty hair with a mix of water and a gel-like mix. He slips a sky blue bead then the acid green then another sky blue, Rick left a small tuft of hair at the bottom of the third bead. Rick continues to bead her hair, murmuring comforting words and phrases. Eva begins to sing and old song Moira sung to them. _You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away. _

"Eva, tell you what, I'll teach you to become strong." Rick says in a soft, compassionate tone. Eva looks up at her brother and smiles gently. Rick continues and tells her about the things that have happened in the last month. "My teacher says I can graduate in a month or two. I'll be the youngest warrior in a thousand years. What do you think about that?" Eva touches her brother's arm in a proud manner and gently scratches her brother's hand with her sharp nails. Rick pats his sister's head.

"Am I worthy to shed tears, Rick?" Eva mutters, clenching her fists in the soft material of her fawn color dress. Rick halts his hands and sighs, Eva was always like that. She unbinds her fists from her dress and grabs her beaded locks of hair. Rick gently pries his sister's hands from her hair and lays his hands over her frail, tiny ones. Rick finishes the last few beads and helps his sister up. Eva and Rick promenades to the tree grotto, where Rick was to meet Hanch and Abhor. Hanch smiles politely at Eva, whose face has hardened and Abhor smiles at the two siblings.

"We can't stay long, Eva. I just wanted to give ya this. I saw this at a market in Naurasia and thought of you. Hope ya like it. I'll see ya around." Abhor steps forward and places a small cardboard box in Eva's hands. "Hope you feel better soon, Evangelina. Hope you feel better soon, too, Rick." Abhor wave's goodbye to the royals and catches up with Hanch, who had left a few minutes prior. Eva looks at the small box and opens it. The girl-child pulls out a pretty necklace. It is made out of a black cloth/metal alloy that wraps tightly around her neck. In the front is a single piece of a rectangular-shaped piece of a silver-colored metal. A few centimeters away from the larger piece are two horizontal piece of the same silver metal in the shape of a rectangle. Two circular pieces of metal follow the rectangles and the rest of the necklace are blank.

"He gave this to me to keep people from staring at my neck. Abhor is such a sweetheart. He doesn't want me to be ashamed. Thanks for letting him tag along with Hanch." Eva smiles, snapping the small buckle of her necklace tightly. The necklace tightens around her neck. "But that doesn't mean I like Hanch, Rick. I still don't like her and I probably never will." Eva takes her brother's hand as he looks at his sister in mild awe. Who knew such a simple gesture such as a necklace to hide a tattoo could change his sister's attitude. Not even the widest whorl was seen.

"We better hurry up, Rick, we're going to be late for dinner." Eva urges, tugging her brother's hand. "Father will be angry if we're not late. You know how he is! He'll get angry otherwise and I'll have to organize my dresses again, like last week when I skipped dinner." The girl tugs her brother out of the rendezvous point and into the castle. They arrive outside the dining hall just in time. Don opens the door for his children and lets them walk in at a hurried pace. The two royals sit in their respective chairs and look at their father apprehensively.

"You've made it on time today. But I'm not impressed." Don summons the serfs to bring food. "Now, I realize this past month has been hard for us, with the death of your mother. Rick, I am sending you to live on the planet Earth. I have a scholarship for you at a boarding school and a racing form. Evangelina, I am sending you to Naurasia. You seemed to get along fine with Aikka." He puts up a hand to stop Eva from shouting. "This is only temporary. Ever since your mother died –" Eva shrieks.

"Stop pretending that mom isn't here!" She cries, "She is hearing everything you are saying! MOM IS HERE!" Eva throws her pure white coconut milk at the wall where the glass shatters and milk stains the wall. The girl-child mutters something along the lines of: _forgive him, mom_. Then the girl turns tail and runs no doubt to her room. Rick sighs and does not follow her; this has happed too often for Rick's liking. Don rubs his temples and murmurs something: _good goddess, I'll have to put the girl in an asylum_. Rick coughs into his hand to hide a laugh and half a grin.

"You will both stay there as long as it is needed. You and Evangelina will return every four weeks and Evangelina will visit you every week." Don finishes, pushing his still full plate away from him. Rick polishes off the last of his meal and leaves the dining hall. He doesn't bother to go comfort his sister. He, instead, begins to pack clothes.

**PLANET: NAURASIA, 5:32 P.M.**

Aikka was quite happy today. His mother has just informed him that they were going to be taking care of Evangelina for about a year, maybe even two! Eva would be coming in three days, in counting. His mother was placed in charge to create Eva's room. The room was done with calming blues, silvers and greens. It was to remind Eva of the water garden and tree grotto. Aikka sits on the bed and watches as Etsu rushes around. He laughs slightly as Etsu berates a serf for dropping a ceramic vase.

"Mother, Eva won't mind if she doesn't have a vase in her room. She's not a material person." Aikka playfully chides, shaking his pointer finger in a disappointed manner. Etsu sighs and waves her hand to the serf. The serf picks up the large pieces of vase and leaves the room in a hurry. Aikka pats the bed. "Mother, why is Eva going to live with us? I, mean, I heard news that the mother died. Is that why?" Etsu sighs once again and wearily shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't know, nor does she want to.

"I do not know, Aikka. I doubt even Eva knows." Etsu murmurs, hugging her son and stroking her son's red-bronze hair. "Don't ask her about it, nor speak of it. It is no doubt a painful memory." Aikka nods slowly and stands up from the bed. He lets his mother leave and looks around the room. He takes a scarf from his waist and gently drapes it on the silk pillows, a gesture of friendship. He kisses the fringed edge of the scarf and leaves the room. He closes the door almost lovingly and walks peacefully to his rooms.

He cannot wait to see Evangelina. He can't wait to play Dutch and Double Dutch with her and he can't wait to braid her hair and comb it, if she lets him, that is. Aikka smiles softly as he reaches his own room. His room is done in reds, gold and bronzes. Aikka collapses on his silk sheets of his bed and bunches his tanned fists in the sheets. He smiles against a pillow and falls asleep, basking in the warmth of the sunshine.

It is mid afternoon the next morning when Aikka woke up. His mother is lording over him, holding white, silk pant and tunic in her soft hands. Aikka rubs his eyes with his knuckles and grumbles something under his breath. Etsu shoves the clothes into her son's arms gently and kisses his forehead. Aikka crawls out of his bed and tugs of his dirty clothes from last night. The new clothes feel fresh and cool on his sun-warmed skin. He unbuckles the small strap on his dirty clothes and belts it around his waist.

"Evangelina has arrived early." Etsu announces to Aikka as he closes his bedroom's door. Aikka's face brightens as he trots beside his fair and beautiful mother. Eva is such a frail thing, Aikka notes. She has such a frail, slight, bird-like frame. Her pale, ivory body shakes as if she has a bout of influenza or the common cold. Her eyes are glassy and unseeing and her strange black lips are stained red, as if the girl bites or gnaws at her lips. Her little hands shake the small, velvet carpetbag held in her pale, spider-like phalanges. Her cheek bones poke out of her skin like small mountains or hills.

"Renounce your pain unto me." Aikka cries, as he opens his arms widely. He rushes over to the young girl and throws his arms around her shoulders. The girl gasps in surprise. The girl is so small and frail, Aikka is afraid he will break her. The girl flinches and pushes on Aikka's chest gently. Aikka lets the girl go as she retrieves her dropped carpetbag. Skirts and old, black records fall out of the bag. Aikka stoops down and picks up a record. _My Girl_. Aikka hands the large, flat record to Eva, who gives him the smallest of grins.

"My Mum's when she used to live on Earth. She used to go to a boarding school. I took her stuff, so Da wouldn't burn it. But I didn't get all of it." Eva explains as she leveling places the record in her bag. "That's why I got sent here early. He doesn't want to remember Mum like me and Rick do. He wants to pretend like she doesn't exist anymore. He was mad me when he found me purloining her favorite stuff." Eva continues, now wiping tears from her eyes. "But I know that she wants me to have it. She told me." Aikka helps the frail girl up.

"That's good. Let me take you to your room. Rick didn't come with you?" Eva shakes her head, sad and angry. She looks so disappointed. "Why? I thought you two were inseparable. Oh, did Don make you come alone? I'm sorry. Too bad, I wanted to talk to Rick. Your brother is very interesting. Do you know that, Evangelina?" Eva flinches. "But not as interesting as you, Evangelina. You are…complex…an enigma. You have so many layers." Eva has the grace and posture to blush pink.

"This is your room. Mother wanted the room to remind you of home." Aikka opens the door to the Eva's personal quarters. "If you don't like it, we can change it or you can move to a different suite." Eva's face lights up in happiness as she sees the soft and warm pastels that would darken as the day fell into night. She walks over to the small desk and drops her carpetbag carefully to the wooden surface. Aikka smiles as the girl walks up to the bed and grasps the black scarf he laid there earlier with awe and gratification.

"I love it…it smells like Mum in a way. She always smelled like lilies and hibiscuses. I really do like this, Aikka. Is there anywhere I can possible take a bath?" Eva asks as she pulls out soap and scented oils in glass bottles from her bag. "I smell horrible. That driver is such a speed-daemon. I couldn't help but scream and yell. He needs his license taken away." Eva is rambling, the sign that she is pleased. Aikka gently grabs Eva's elbow. The girl flinches and Aikka releases her arm. He leads her to the large bathroom where the royal family bathes often.

"This is the bathroom. Mother might bathe with you some days, so don't feel too uncomfortable, okay? When you're done, there will be clothes behind the dressing screen. If you don't like the Naurasian clothing that's fine, you can wear what you brought if it fits you well enough. You can come to my room once you're done and I'll give you a tour, okay?" Eva nods and rubs the back of her neck. Aikka blushes and backs away from the room. Eva locks the door behind her and walks to the dressing screen where she pulls off her velvet frock and pinafore. She tosses the ritzy clothes over the top edge of the screen and un-belts the heavy necklace from her neckline.

The water is pleasingly warm and smells of fresh ozone, a sharp, clean, and pristine sent that Eva loves. Small jet bubbles rise from the bottom and tickle Eva's feet and legs and torso. The water comes up to her chin and laps at her lips. The water tastes like the water at home, but Naurasian water has a stronger taste like something she had never tasted. It is good and nourishes her food-deprived body, as she refused to eat scantly nothing ever since Moira died. She dunks her head into the warm and sharp smelling water and gently takes the wooden beads from her hair. The bottle of scented oils used to wash the young princess's hair gently washes away dirt, grime, and sweat she was given by the psychotic driver.

The oils smell of home, the smells boughs of the willows and the scent of pristine magic. Her hair feels clean and looks like freshly woven spider silk, each strand pools and waves perfectly around her nude shoulders. The soap, in the shape of a flow, smells like azaleas and water lilies. Her skin feels clean and doesn't look as waxy as before. She gives herself one last, harsh clean over and pushes herself out of the large bathing pool. She wraps a towel around her bird-like body, so frail and susceptible to break and walks behind the dressing screen.

The Naurasian clothes were soft and made of some sort of a silk/cotton hybrid. The dress Eva is given is simple enough, as it is a simple white dress, free of any adornment. The skirt pools at the girl's feet and loops the girl's shoulders. Eva snaps the necklace around her neck and combs her hair, yanking mercilessly at knots and rat's nests in her hair. She quickly braids her hair and ties it with an elastic band. She ties sandals on to her feet and scoops her oils and soap in her arms. Once she places her soaps and oils in her room, she can go see Aikka, maybe she and Aikka can convince a serf to play Dutch.

**PLANET: EARTH, 11:23 A.M.**

This is Earth. This is the planet where Rick's mother came from. Rick does not like Earth, in fact, he hates it. He hates the atmosphere, how large it is, pollution and that his sister isn't with him. He hates the starchy blue tie around his neck and white shirt. He hates the blue pants he has to wear with an ugly black belt and he hates the blue blazer with the line-work heart on the right breast, right on the ugly breast pocket. He hates the black loafer shoes and his newly military-style cut hair. He hates Lineage Heart Elementary Boarding School.

"Mr. Wei!" The teacher, who called herself Mary, yells. Rick cocks an eyebrow delicately and looks down at the paper in front of him. A-rith-ma-tic is what they call it. He doesn't like a-rith-ma-tic. He hates it, just like he hates Earth. He hates Earth just like he hates his father, just like he hates the Crogs. Three-hundred times one, that's easy; three-hundred. He snorts disdainfully. Do these Earthlings think that he is stupid? In the month he has been at Earth, and Eva on Naurasia, he has learned to hate everything on this pitiful planet Earth.

"Pass your tests up to the front of the room." Mary intones, tapping her mechanical pencil on the glossy wooden desk. Rick makes a grotesque face on the corner of his tests and labels it as _Mistress Mary, quite contrary_. Rick smiles, satisfied with himself and pulls a black binder from the basket below his desk. He opened the cardboard binder open and continues to write a letter to his sister. The letter is nearly twelve pages, all written in the native language of Eris, commonly referred to as Latin, Sanskrit and Hebrew.

"What are you doing, Ricky?" A roommate, whom every one called Momo because of his feminine face, asks. He leans on the prince's shoulders and peers down at the letter. Rick bats Momo's hands away from the paper with the school's symbol on the topmost, right corner and continues to write. Momo tugs a lock of Rick's hair. The prince gives no emotion, and only erases a word and re-writes a new one that was much longer and much more foreign. Rick stops, taps his lips with his pencil and adds another word. Momo grabs the binder and pulls out all twelve and three-fourth pages.

"Is this a letter? No, this is a _thesis_!" Momo caws, waving the papers in the air. "Who is this for? Your girl?" Momo mocks as he looks at each word. "Ooh, your own _love _language." He cackled. Rick slaps Momo on the inner thigh roughly and catches the sheaves of paper that falls from Momo's now lax hands. Momo looks at Rick, as the boy is surprised. Rick has never shown any inclination to any acts of violence. They thought Rick mellow, laid-back, if not cold boy. Rick takes the paper he was writing on and places it on top.

"It's for my younger sister, Momo. I haven't seen her in a month and she's not coming here 'till week after next. I haven't written to her yet. She's sent me a letter for every week she's been in Sri Lanka. I feel guilty and _her _letters are three times as long, _and _she's six years younger." Rick explains, ignoring the look of horror that crosses Momo's face. "And when she comes, I expect you to be well mannered. She can smell a lie a mile away and is rude to people who are rude to her." Rick continues.

"In other words, me and the boys are dealing with a more prickly and feminine version you." Momo deadpans, giving Rick a stare through half-closed eyes. Rick gives Momo a chilling grin and finishes the letter. He stuffs the letter in a single envelope and seals it with piece of scotch tape and kisses the tip of the envelope. He writes an address on the envelope and grimaces. The packet looks like a fat man who went to an all-one-eat buffet. Rick places the letter in the pocket of his blazer and snaps the binder shut.

"Yes. I'll see you at lunch." Rick says, standing up as the bell rings. He grabs his knapsack and shoves his a-rith-ma-tic book along with his binder inside. "I need to send this letter before the post closes." Rick leaves Momo in the still emptying classroom and heads out the main doors. He cannot wait until Eva reads his letter, which will bring him small comfort that might last until she comes to Earth.

**PLANET: NAURASIA, 5:32 A.M.**

_He holds a guitar in his hands and his fingers dance over the cords. He was singing a song she always loves, as he sang it to her when she was nothing more than a fetus in the womb. She smiles and leans against his knees as his boyish voice sings the soft lyrics. The guitar flows smoothly as he sings softly, soothing her to sleep. _

"_Take my love, take my land. Take me where I cannot stand. I don't care, I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me." He sings. "Take me out, into the black. Tell 'em I ain't coming back. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me. There's no place I can be since I found serenity. You can't take the sky from me." She smiles and hugs his leg. She closes her eyes and smiles. _

_She is in a different place now. She felt older. A room of the sorts made of stone and weathered marble. Her hands are stained with red life, the very essence of humanity – blood. It is not the smell or feel of the blood that makes her shriek in such anguish, nor is it the long, thick scratches that run down her face, arms, legs and torso. It was the multitude of bodies that litters the floor all looking at her with glassy eyes. And it was the bowing prince before her, head down submissively and hands on the floor. _

"_Are you worthy to shed such pretty tears?" She voices, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and helping him up. "No, you are worthy of much prettier tears. Diamond…liquid diamond tears. Yes, that is what worthy of shedding." She finalizes, wiping bloody tears off of the prince's face. His face breaks out into a warm smile and cornflower blue eyes locks to acid green ones. _

_The touches where hesitant and feather light, the warming sensation only lasting seconds. His hand is at the back of her neck and the other at the small of her waist. His face is buried in her lock, black locks, breathing in the sent of lilies and a strange smell of fresh rain. Her face was in the conjunction between shoulder and neck of the prince's collarbone. She was warm, tangibly warm and comforting. But not that dagger in her hand, it was cold and unforgiving. _

_The prince doesn't see the knife that crawls to his stomach, held in his love's hand. He only sees and feels her lips gently escalates to his own. He only feels the warmth of her body against his and his lips on hers. He doesn't feel as her hand leaves his shoulder or feel the cool metal against his abdomen. He doesn't feel the stiletto prick his skin. He doesn't feel the blood gently roll down his skin. He does feel the dagger dig deeper into his skin. He feels the blood gently come up his throat and into his mouth. _

"_Shed your pretty tears, sweetheart." She croons. "I want to see them. Let me see your pretty tears." She nuzzles the conjunction of neck and shoulder and kisses the web of skin crawling up the prince's neck. The prince is shocked. Then he cries softly as she gently touches the clear tears on his face. It is a look of awe, the prince notes, as the girl scoops a tear in her hand. She looks at it for a moment before she flicks it cruelly off her hand. She grins down at him and stands up. _

_The prince is overcome with such anger. He beckons for her to come closer. She complies and smiles at him serenely, perhaps taking relish in his slow death? The prince stokes the girl's collar softly, fingers trailing much longer than needed over the collarbone, gently making whorls with his fingers. In a smooth movement, the prince straddles the girl and tightens his grip on her neck. The girl is loosing air rapidly; she reaches out to touch the prince's face, which she manages. _

Eva wakes up, in a cocoon of silk and pillows. Her neck is extremely sore, not by the weight of the choker, but of something else. Eva throws the blankets off her body. As she makes her way to the vanity, the moonlight makes shadows play on the walls and creates images of people in corners. The mirror shows no daemons, or unholy shadows, only Eva's frail appearance. She unbuckles the heavy necklace from her neck and places it on the wooden vanity. The choker makes a large _thunk_ that echoes through the room.

"There is no difference between reality and dreams for those who experience it." Eva says in awe, rubbing her neck were purplish-black bruises beautify her neck. She massages her neck as pain pulses down from her neck, to her spine and down to her feet. Then the pain crawls back up to her neck, where the princess whimpers in pain and discomfort. She takes a small, glass jar of ointment and rubs it thoroughly on her neck, ignoring those strangely pleasing stabs and thorns of pain. Eva places the necklace back on her neck.

Eva rubs her eyes and tugs her nightgown off. She tosses it to the ground and trots over to her wardrobe. She pulls out a white dress and tugs it over her head. She left her hair in the state that it was in; she will let Aikka brush it today. She places her pearl backed brush in her dress pocket and skips out her door and down the hall. Aikka wouldn't mind if she woke him up so early. She knocks on the door twice and prances inside. Aikka is sleeping in his warm bedding, muttering something in his sleep.

"Aikka, wake up." Eva demands poking Aikka's backside sadistically with her nails. Aikka mutters something and turns over onto his other side, facing Eva. Eva squats down to face Aikka. The young Naurasian prince moans and drops his head off the edge of the bed. _Clunk!_ Eva fell on her bottom with a wail. The prince slumps to the ground. He groans and wakes up. Eva is still rubbing her skull as Aikka blinks around blearily. Eva purses her lips tightly and shakes Aikka. The Erisian princess brandishes her pearl backed-brush.

"Do you want to brush my hair?" Eva asks innocently as Aikka looks outside. He turns and scowls at her for waking him up so early, but notably brightens as Eva offers him her brush. Aikka happily takes the brush as Eva sits with her legs crossed underneath her dress. Aikka takes a few locks of her hair and gently combs out the knots in her hair. Aikka is looking at the heavy necklace around the princess's neck. What is behind that necklace? Aikka wants to know. His hands smooth out Eva's hair as the brush cuts through it like a knife. Eva absentmindedly toys with a piece of ribbon she has found on the floor. She ties one end of the ribbon to the other and begins to play Jacob's ladder.

"Cat's Cradle?" Eva sings out, offering the string. Aikka shakes his head and Eva begins to play Cup-and-Saucer. These were the games Moira and Eva would play all day during Storm-and-Tempest (late autumn/winter/early spring) season. They would play it during Sunshine-and-Moonshine (mid-to-late spring/early summer) season. And they would even play it during Starlight-and-Shadow (mid-to-late summer/early-to-mid autumn) season. They played other games like _I Spy with My Little Eyes_,_ Ring-Around-the-Rosie_, _Blind-Man's Bluff_, _Hopscotch_, _Witch's Casket_, and _Gite_.

"Done. You're hair is really pretty, Evangelina. You know that right?" Aikka mutters, handing the brush back to Eva. Eva unknots the two ribbon ends and reties it to her bony wrist. The blue ribbon slides down the girl's arm as Aikka helps the princess to her feet. She smiles in thanks at him and skips out Aikka's door, leaving the prince to faithfully follow her. The two royals are running to find Canaan; they are going to wash his pretty snow-white hair if it kills them. Canaan is awake and out in the training yard.

"Canaan!" Eva yips, tossing herself at the three-thousand-four-hundred-ninety-five-year-old-man and hugging him tight. Canaan may look frail, but he is tough as the youngest Naurasian warrior. Canaan merely pats the girl on her head and gently detangles himself from the bird-like girl's bone-crushing embrace. Canaan cannot help but like the girl, she acts cheerful though her mother has died and her father that all but abandoned her. Canaan looks at the girl, seeing if she is healthy. Her cheeks are fuller and body isn't as bony.

"You are looking much better, Evangelina." Canaan notes. The girl-bird goes somber and picks at her skin, almost distastefully. Canaan notices how frail the bird-girl still is. Her cheek bones still poke out of her skin and her flesh still clings to her bones. She won't get much taller than she already is; she will still retain her frail form, that skeletal and delicate structure. Eva picks at her skin with her sharp fingernails and wince as the tips puncture her fleshy tissue. Canaan notes how pale her skin is, the girl needs more sun, and more exercise. The girl winces at the look of pity in Canaan's face.

"I hate it when people look at me like that! Don't look at me." Eva whispers, looking Canaan in the eye. She doesn't look at Aikka and she instead seems to look through Canaan now. Her eyes seem lack luster as she looks beyond the old mentor. Her lips quiver slightly as she fondles the blue ribbon around her wrist. She hates pity, yet she doesn't mind sympathy at all. There is a fine line between pity and sympathy, but Eva knows the difference. "Please, I hate pity. Don't look at me with pity."

"Evangelina, forgive me, then." Canaan begins. "It is just you are so frail. You have exceeded the limits of human abilities, even that of Naurasians and Erisians. It is as if you aren't even alive. You worry us all, especially Aikka." Canaan continues, ignoring the look of hurt in Eva's eyes. "You are wasting away, child, and if you keep on doing this, you will disappear. You will fade from existence." Eva scuffs her feet in the dirt and looks up at Canaan, shamefaced. She acts indifferent but Canaan sees the shame and remorse in her face.

"If we can wash your hair, I'll eat more." Eva chirps mischievously, eyes sparkling. Canaan could kick himself. He set himself right up for that one. Eva takes Canaan's hand and chirps for Aikka to take her other free hand. Aikka complies and grins at Canaan. The old Naurasian sighs to himself as the two younglings talk and chat about how pretty Canaan's hair is. Canaan surprises and shocks himself as he finds himself pleased that they thing Aikka and Evangelina his white hair _pretty_.

Evangelina rubs oil into her palms and rubs it into Canaan's snow white hair. Aikka is swimming in small circles, sends small waves that crash against Eva. Eva sticks her tongue out at Aikka as she continues to rub the spicy smelling oil into the mentor's hair. Canaan laughs as Aikka is pummeled by a wave of a large magnitude, courtesy of Eva. Aikka mutters something like _revenge_, and _won't know where_. Eva begins to dump water on Canaan's head, either ignoring or oblivious to Aikka's oaths of revenge. Eva adds another type of oil before unexpectedly dunking the man under the sharp smelling water. The man mutters his thanks.

"Aikka, want me to do your hair next?" Eva asks tauntingly. Aikka opens his mouth to retort then blushes. He submerges to where he is eye-level with Eva's swimsuit-clad shoulder. Eva touches the top of Aikka's head and gently massages the boy's head. Aikka resurfaces and nods his head. Eva adds oil to her hands. She administers it to the boy's reddish-brown hair and rotates the oil circled and whorls. When Eva is finished, she dunks the prince underwater to rid his hair of soap suds and remaining hair oils.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Aikka and Eva are playing Cat's Cradle. Eva looks up from taking the ribbon from Aikka's hands to her own. Her hands continue to work as Eva looks at the Naurasian prince, shocked and bewildered. Eva licks her lips and looks down and finishes the last movement of her turn. She holds her ribbon entwined hand and offers it to Aikka. The prince knows she is thinking, as the youngling bites and gnaws at her lower lip. Her eyes hold a brooding look, as if she is really thinking of an adequate answer.

"The word _soul_ can have multiple meanings. A soul could be an item of great value to a person. And it can be the sole, pure entity that the body merely shells and protects. But, anyways, I do not believe in reincarnation. I believe that a person must _earn _their soul by completing a non-selfish act, like sacrificing one's arm to save a cat from an oncoming attack. And every single person who has a soul, it is theirs alone. Because each person does something different to change someone's life, each soul is different, and only accommodates the one sole person who earns it." Eva clarifies. Aikka looks up at Eva.

"What about those who don't earn their souls or steal them? What do you think about that?" Aikka poses, proffering his hand to Eva. Eva takes the ribbon and weaves her fingers around the ribbon. She looks intently at the ribbon and tangles her fingers deeper into the ribbon. Aikka does notice that Eva seems to answer hesitantly, as if she is hiding something. Eva's fingers beings to turn blue and purple.

"People who don't earn their souls aren't bad or evil. They just haven't reached the maturity to earn one yet. Some people reject souls because they don't feel as if they need something else to fill up their body, or soul-shell. And those who use curses or dark magic have lost their right to have or even steal souls, as they, what you might say, _sold their soul to the devil_. But that's not true. Those who use the arcane arts have chosen the path to have other things fill the soul-shell, like the dead's soul or even the souls of creatures." Eva elucidates, she continues, "And those who steal souls from humans are the devil's own advocates. They feel they have the right to have multiple souls because they are merely _there_ and alive. Those who choose that path are doomed, because having so many resistant souls in their body will turn on the person and eventually kill them."

"Well, what about the people who use the dark arts? Will the souls they have ultimately kill them, too, like the soul stealers?" Aikka solicits curiously. "Will they die eventually? Or do they only take the souls from the willing?" Aikka's inquisitiveness is aroused. Eva notices that her fingers are numb and ice-cold. Eva untangles her fingers and re-weaves it around her fingers. She offers it to Aikka.

"They only take the souls from the willing. The dead are alive, even though their corporeal body is, indeed dead. They want to sleep forever, so they willingly give souls away to the soulless ones. They who take willing souls cannot be killed by the souls themselves. The souls untimely like the corporeal body and will eagerly work for the person in question. But, if one goes around for along time with out even acquiring _one_ soul, that person is susceptible for possession by good and bad spirits alike. And that might cause war between the soul-shell, mind and spirit." Eva explicates as Aikka swirls his finger around the ribbon.

Aikka digests this information and frowns. Had he earned his soul? Eva smiles at Aikka, as if she heard his unvoiced question and nods her head slowly. He earns his soul by begin kind to everyone around him. Aikka offers his hands to Eva, the girl smiles and weaves her fingers into the fabric and gently lifts the ribbon off of Aikka's hands. The two begin to play Cat's Cradle once again. They play an intricate game, in both mind and body, as Cat's Cradle is delicate and easy to ruin and destroy.

**PLANET: NAURASIA, 6:23 P.M.**

Mamoru and Etsu looks at Eva, as the little girl was seething and muttering curses no child her age should know. Aikka is in a shock-like state, looking at the girl, eyes wide and mouth open. The Erisian princess is oblivious to the stares and shocked looks of the Naurasian royals. She is angry because of the letter she receives from her father. The letter says that Eva is going to live on Earth from now until the day she dies. She is leaving in a year, when she is to go in to the Lineage Heart Elementary Boarding School.

"Evangelina, perhaps you should send Donald a letter…" Etsu begins, but trails off when she sees Evangelina's murderous look and true anger in her mellow acid green eyes. Aikka seems to shy back, away from the youngling princess, he has never seen her truly angry, not ever. Not that he could blame her, Aikka confesses, as the letter was harsh and direct, filled with cruel insults.

"Yeah, I'd like to send his something right up his stupid, hairy as…" Etsu glares at Eva sharply. Eva, chastened, grabs a plum from a porcelain bowl, bites into it and quickly shifts her eyes to look at a portrait of the first ruler of Naurasia. A slight stain of pink colors the girl's cheeks. Aikka finds that cute and laughs at Eva's expense. Eva looks at Etsu then at Mamoru.

"Don't you ever want to shove something up Mamoru's butt, Etsu?" Eva asks honestly, biting into the plum with mirth filled eyes. Etsu is in shock and is blushing severely. Her wheat-honey color hair veils her face. Mamoru, however, has a much different reaction. He is laughing loudly, really laughing, as if he has never been this happy before. Aikka is stuck between mirth, astonishment and horror. Eva is still looking at Etsu, waiting for the response. The girl once again bites into the plum and chews slowly.

"Yes, I know she wants to shove something up there every once and a while," Mamoru answers blithely, winking at Eva and offering her a peach. "Ma peche. And I know the same feeling." Eva filches the peach and places it into her lap. She still has half a plum to eat. The princess winks at Etsu and holds the peach up like a thing of salvation. Etsu is still recovering from the brutal question when Eva winks at her. She looks to her son for support; his head is on the tabletop, and burbling with giggles and laughter.

"Evangelina, we were going to bazaar tomorrow afternoon." Etsu diverts the attention from herself to an upcoming trip. "Would you like to come with us? Or would you prefer to stay inside the palace's walls?" Eva finishes the last of the plum and places it on the edge of her plate. She bites into the peach and nods her head. With a wink as Aikka and Mamoru, Eva waves her peach around and skips out of the door. Mamoru grins at his wife and pats her hand consoling. Etsu looks at her husband.

"Isn't our peche darling? Such a contrary thing. So where shall we go tomorrow in the bazaar?" Mamoru drawls out, plucking a green apple from the porcelain bowl. Mamoru turns to look at his princeling son. "Do _you_ have any idea, Aikka?" Aikka looks up from his half-eaten red apple. He shakes his head. He doesn't know what Eva likes and doesn't like. He is still trying to pick apart her topmost layer. Etsu roves her shoulders in a demurring manner and daintily takes a bite out of a strawberry.

"Perhaps we should just let Aikka and Evangelina explore by themselves. Both have their own money to purchase items. Maybe we can let them explore most of the day and have them meet us at the food court." Etsu suggests. Aikka says nothing and continues to munch on his apple. "What do you think, Mamoru? It would give time for Aikka and Evangelina to bond." Aikka chokes on the apple and coughs. Mamoru pats Aikka on the back. Once Aikka ingests the apple bit he nods his agreement.

**PLANET: NAURASIA, 7:32 A.M.**

If there is nothing that Evangelina hates more than anything is being the weakest. She hates when she is the weakest during races and especially during stamina-based activities. Aikka is strong and powerful, so Evangelina hold some jealously against him. And Aikka is jealous of Evangelina because of her strong and rebellious nature and her even stranger attitude and bizarre mood swings. But the two get along quite well.

"What about these, Eva?" Aikka asks, offering a hand to Eva. The bird-girl looks down at his hands and picks up the objects to hold up to the sunlight. It is in the shape of a silver hairpin, about six inches long and extremely sharp. At the end of each 'hairpin' is a single bell, tied to the edge by a single piece of invisible fabric. Eva stabs the pad of her finger with the hairpin and smiles. She gathers the other hairpins from Aikka's hands and adds a few more. Aikka is holding items in his hands as well, as he needs to get a few things for more advanced training. He has four seme daggers, three stilettos and two smaller, flat headed daggers. He also has a small kantana. Orders from Canaan, actually.

"Perfect. Thanks, Aikka." Eva replies softly, grinning at Aikka warmly. They walk to the vendor to pay for their items. Aikka pays the man three Superegos (gold) and two Ego (silver). Eva plays five Egos and ten Ids (bronze). The weapons are put in wooden boxes. The owners scoop their respective boxes up in their arms and leave. The sun is filtering through the colorful tarps that cover merchandise and people. The sun pierces through a black tarp, casting the unholy glow on Eva. Aikka stops to look at Eva. Darkness seems to be her element, Aikka realizes, it suits her.

"Where shall we go now, Aikka? Perhaps to that tent over there, beside that sallow looking thing?" Eva waves her hand at a tent with a white tarp. Aikka looks over where the girl is pointing. He nods his head. Most of the items are types of weird and different jewelry. Most of it is a fawn or sandy brown; it doesn't have the sparkle of other minerals used to make jewelry. Most people find the dusty brown jewelry ugly, but Eva finds them pretty. She picks up a piece of work with the distinct shape of the alchemic symbols of Sol and Luna, merged together as one, as the circular symbol of Sol was nestled in the crescent of Luna.

The surface is grainy to the touch, but soft if rubbed in the opposite direction. The crescent moon is painted with a silver lacquer and the circle with a dot in the middle has a golden lacquer. Eva rubs the charm in-between her hands and smiles at Aikka. Eva pays a sallow vendor one Superego. The man smiles and accepts the single gold coin, showing yellowing teeth and a few rotting ones to Eva and Aikka. Eva places her purchase in her dress pocket. Her hands trail over her the charm and hold it between her fingers as Aikka and the young princess walk towards the food court.

"I'm having fun." Eva begins, slowly, almost embarrassedly, "I am leaving for Earth in a week, and would you like to come with me? I understand if you don't want to, but Rick has classes all day and I'll all alone." Aikka nods his head and gently curls a lock of hair with his fingers. "Good," She chirps, "Hey, look; there is your mother and father." Aikka grabs Eva's hand and they run to Mamoru and Etsu. They said king and queen are eating salad and dried abalone meat. When the two sit down, Etsu pushes to smaller bowls of salad to the younglings.

"Thank you, Etsu. And I don't mean just the food." Eva thanks the queen of Naurasia, smiling gratefully. Etsu smiles demurely and hands Eva a plate of oysters and clams. Eva accepts the plate and bites into an oyster. She continues to rub the charm between her fingers. The Erisian princess closes her eyes and hums a song under her breath. Eva breaths against the palm of her hand, and she finds her breath icy-cold. She breathes on her arm again; her breath is once again cold. A free, willing soul is nearby.

"So, Evangelina, what did you purchase today?" Etsu asks. Eva shrugs her shoulders slightly as if saying: _does it really matter what I bought, either way? _But Eva told the queen about her small weapons and charm. Etsu next asks Aikka of his purchases, his answer is just as droll as Eva's monotone report. The rulers are rather surprised at the children's lack of excitement and adventure. The two youngling royals tell the queen and king that they had spent a majority of the time picking out weapons.

**PLANET: EARTH, 4:32 P.M.**

She really doesn't mind the uniform. The shirt is ivory white and crisp with golden button cuffs and buttons down the center with a lacy collar. She doesn't mind the navy blue pleated skirt with the tight waistband or that the skirt barely brushes the top of her knees. She doesn't mind the dark grey tights with the line art heart on her inner right leg. And she doesn't mind the buckle-up shoes with the slight heel, either. She likes the swishy skirt and the comfortable cotton shirt. She likes the _tap-tap _sound the shoes make.

Angel, Momo and Hawkeye watch the children play. The soles of the children's shoes are placed against each other and their legs are stretched out and in a shape of a rough diamond. A black rubber ball is bouncing in the children's diamond. The girl catches it and rolls it to the boy. The boy catches it and bounces it as the girl cocks her head to one side, smiling. Angel hands the girl his mother's locket to play with until the boy was done. They are really easy to amuse. The girl is curious about the locket as she opens it and touches the picture.

"She died when you were three. You got her face, and hair and eyes from your mother. You father was already dead, as he was hit with a car. You lived, and still do, with your Aunt Miranda and Uncle Tommy. Your mother gave this to you as a gift, a gift of remembering love." Eva murmurs, smiling warmly at Angel. "Your mother named you Angel, because you were born under the full moon." She hands the locket back to Angel and catches the ball the boy rolls at her. The two younglings pretend as if the three older boys don't exist.

The girl has bell hairpins in her hair. Her hair is in one large bun in the back of her head, though thousands of small braids make the bun. Some bells stick out the ornaments and others circulate the bun. They jingle and bounce against each other, making pretty sounds. Momo likes those sounds, they remind him of home and the piano his mother played everyday. The girl smiles at Momo and takes a hairpin out and offers it to Momo. The said boy takes the hairpin and sticks it in his breast pocket and winks suggestively at the youngling female. The girl looks at Momo, with archly raised eyebrows.

"You look constipated. Are you constipated?" The girl demands, throwing the rubber ball at the boy's head. The ball connects with the boy's head and causes the feminine-faced boy to fall backwards. The young boy looks at the girl, affronted. The girl shrugs her shoulders and stands up. She retrieves the ball, but not before crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out at Momo. The twelve-year-old male scowls at the girl and stands up. He is rubbing his sore orangey-red face, an imprint of a circle on his face.

"If you keep doing that, you're face will freeze that way." Momo snaps nastily at the girl. The girl raises an eyebrow, hands the ball to Aikka and strikes a pose. It looks like a Peter Pan pose, but it doesn't make her look silly or childish. It, in fact, makes her look taller, malignant and frightening. Aikka doesn't seem startled or frightened. The boy clears his throat and the girl sits down. They place the shoe soles together and begin to roll the ball back and forth to each other and begin to speak in gibberish.

"Maybe you should do a gargoyle face. It would match your ugly personality." She purrs acidly. Momo snarls at the girl and opens his mouth to say something. Angel's hand covers Momo's mouth and Hawkeye jabs Momo sharply in the ribs. Momo grunts mutters under his breath. The female cackles murderously and sticks her two pointer fingers up in the air, doing a little dance. The boy smiles gently and gently throws her the ball. The girl catches it and jerks her head at the door.

"'Lo Angel. Momo what the hell happened to your face? Why are you point at the…oh. Hey, Eva, good job with the face lift. Angel looks so much more like the male gender. How have you been? No one hurt you? Hey, who is that…dammit! Eva! Why did you do that?" Eva holds the rubber ball in her hands. She glares at him and looks at the boy beside her pointedly. She throws the ball to the boy and steps forward, waving at the boy.

"I know what you mean. I thought the same thing when I saw Aikka. I thought for certain that he would have black hair instead of blonde and brown eyes instead of black! It is because that his father is Australian and his mother is Sri Lankan." Eva chirps as Aikka nods. "But his mother is really nice. Aikka this is my older brother, Rick. And Rick, this is my friend Aikka. He's going to be staying with us until I got to go back with him." Eva smiles brilliantly at her brother. Momo mutters something along the lines of: _bloody bipolar_.

"Thanks for the letters…they kept me up all night. Good things when I had to pull all-nighters for my history and math mid-terms. Momo said it looked at if I was exchanging letters with Freud, Einstein and Seven Hawking. But, anyways, have Mamoru and Etsu been tolerably civil and kind? They don't hurt you? Good. Is the food cooked thoroughly? No one teases you or makes fun of you?" Rick knows he is acting like a mother hen, but Evangelina is the only thing he has left, as his mother is dead and his father seems to forget that they exist.

"No. Canaan is really nice! I was able to wash his hair yesterday. His hair is so pretty. Like snow or silver. All shiny like." Eva begins to ramble. Rick doesn't mind. He misses her rambles and tirades. He lets her talk about trivial things like her pretty new hairpins and her new necklace. The letter she got from their father and the fact that she wants to _shove something_ up his buttocks. They talk for hours, Aikka often interrupting softly to add a noncommittal fact that Eva overlooks. At the fall of the sun and when silvery light overlooks the dorms the two siblings and prince stop talking.

"Eva, take my bed tonight. I've a big history exam tomorrow on the works of Sigmund and Freud and the history of Albert Einstein." Rick begins to pull out his history book. Eva halts his hands and shakes her head. She waves her hand to Aikka and places her pointer finger on her lips. Aikka is fast asleep, using the rubber ball as a pillow. Rick looks at his sister then to his books. With a sigh, the boy gets up and walks to the Naurasian prince. The prince is tucked under warm covers, and Eva perches herself on the bed, her hipbone near Aikka's head.

"The dreams hurt me. They make me kill people; they make me like the blood." Eva murmurs sadly, gently brushing coppery-brown lock from the prince's face. Her fingers absentmindedly trace the features of the prince's face. "_I _don't like the blood. Does that make me insane? I don't want to be insane. Am I supposed to like the blood? Do you like seeing blood?" She continues weakly, her hands are shaking now, her fingernails nip and scratch her hands. The girl's tongue darts out and licks healed lips, free of blood. She begins to gnaw at her lips.

"No, I don't like blood at all. I hate it. You're not insane, a little mad, yes, but far beyond the path of insane." Rick reassures the girl. He waves his hands vaguely at his books. Eva follows his gaze and nods eagerly. "Help me with my studies? Just like old times, eh, Eva? Okay, write these questions down, will you? I'll answer them later. That'll be the key." Eva smiles as she writes down questions. She likes this. They work for three hours, nonstop. They study, bicker, and study once again.

"Okay, Rick, I think you're ready for this test. You're going to ace it, Rick, because I helped you." Eva declares tiredly. Rick yawns and smiles warmly at his younger sister. The girl falls headfirst to the table where her head makes a large _thunk_. Rick jumps back and shakes his head. He tosses his book satchel over his shoulder and leaves. Eva is not sleeping peacefully, her hand twitches uncomfortably and her fingers flutter. Her dreams haunt her once again, her brain and mind is reeling and churning with nightmares and thoughts that aren't hers.

**PLANET: NAURASIA, 6:32 A.M.**

Aikka watches as Evangelina sleeps. She is in a cocoon of blankets and a pillow is clutched in her arms. She is leaving today to return to Eris, even though she was only here for three months. Aikka is going to miss her; he is going to miss her laughter and her nonsense philosophy that makes so much sense. The black scarf Aikka gave her is wound around her waist. She cried last night, because she was leaving early. Aikka didn't, but he was rather close. Watching her cry made the young Naurasian prince realized how much he and his family meant to Eva.

"Merciful Goddess, please take me away. I will close my ears and my heart and I will be stone." Eva murmurs, low enough that Aikka doesn't hear. She opens her eyes and turns to look at Aikka. "I have lived one hundred and seven years and you have lived a year longer than I have. We will grow much, much older. We will forget things. I don't want to forget, do you want to forget?" Eva pushes the covers off of her and drapes her feet over the bed. From the folds of the dress she slept in last night, she brings out the necklace she purchased. She takes the charm and snaps it in half.

"We won't forget now. And even if we do, we'll know there is someone out there who cares for us. You keep the sun and I have the moon. And one day the two pieces will be rejoined together." She hands the circle to Aikka. "It's a puzzle. We will forget and wonder what this means, a puzzle, we will think everyday, holding our charms up to the light. What does it mean? we will ask. And one day we'll run into each other and the puzzle will be complete. Okay, Aikka? Don't forget just now, we have to wait a bit." Eva places the charm in the pocket of her dress and stands up.

"You better hurry up and finish packing. Your father will be here soon. And I'll never forget. I'll force myself to remember, you'll see." Aikka promises, and kisses Eva's hand. He leaves her room, to let the youngling princess pack the remainder of her belongings. She doesn't have much to pack. She only has her small carpetbag and a few other odd things that she had received. With a sigh, the youngling girl grips the wooden and bone handles of the carpetbag and touches the walls and windows of the room. She looks out the window where Canaan is training with a courtier's son. The child stumbles and falls. Canaan begins to lecture the boy, with his no-nonsense tone.

"Merciful Goddess, please take me away. I will close my ears and my heart and I will be stone." Eva murmurs softly, touching the door once last time. Aikka is waiting for her outside. A storm begins to churn outside and lightning flickers across the sky. Purple and black thunderheads scatter and reform to grotesque figures. Thunder rumbles and shakes the sky. Evangelina shudders and grips her carpetbag tighter. Aikka places a consolingly arm over Eva's shoulders and rubs her arms with his fingers.

They arrive outside the throne room. The door is ominous now, not the friendly-looking, angel adorned door. It is now darker – not the cause of the storm – and scarier than when Evangelina had first seen it. Aikka shares her feeling of foreboding. This was goodbye. It hit Aikka harder than he realizes, he would never see the contrary, wild, untamable youngling princess of Eris. Mamoru and Etsu are standing beside Donald, king of Eris. Evangelina gulps and walks forward, as if he was her executioner.

She was going, going, gone. Evangelina, princess of Eris and royal heir was gone. He said he would never forget, but he has lied. The sickness began right after she left. He forgot. Each minute with her not there, memories fade. Evangelina was really, truly gone. He cannot remember the princess of Eris, the time spent on Earth, the time they spent in the bazaar, the times they played jump-rope.

And soon, Evangelina forgot Aikka, prince of Naurasia.

**END CHAPTER II : END CHAPTER II : END CHAPTER II : END CHAPTER II : END CHAPTER II : END CHAPTER II : END CHAPTER II**

_End chapter II done, but you already knew that, didn't you? Is it just Lost Jerusalem, or did this take longer to write? Sure felt like it. Ah, this chapter wasn't as hard to write than the first one. Criticism is welcome but **not **flamers/complainers. Don't like, don't bitch about it. Lost Jerusalem don't want to go through headache because you don't like it. Criticism **good **& Flamers **bad**. And thanks to Lost Jerusalem's awesome, kick ass beta: A New Dreamer. Thank you, AND. And of course thank you for your reviews from the next chapter. Song in dream belongs to the guy that owns Firefly. _

_Plot Bunny: Lost Jerusalem is currently unavailable at the moment as she is currently in a hidey-hole. She is rather sad that this didn't get more review…only 4 and two of her others got 7, she's wondering why. Yes, and you see, I am scared of Lost Jerusalem. She found all of us Plot Bunnies and shot us all of us dead…well except for me and, like, 5 others. Is this really that bad of a story that she got so little reviews? Or is it some other reason? She is really curious, but her heart goes out to the reviews, people who put her and/or the story on her favorite/alert list. She is very gratefully. _

**Lost Jerusalem **


	3. The Most Aggrieved of Author

To readers of Aether: it is my sad and most aggrieved duty to rewrite and repost "Aether" under a new title. I've reread the two chapters I've written, and I found myself confused. Until the chapter, in a new story that is very much the same, I wish you adieu.

Alice


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